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joewein.de LLC
fighting spam and scams on the Internet
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"419" Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam
The so-called "419" scam is a type of fraud dominated by criminals from Nigeria and other countries in Africa. Victims of the scam are promised a large amount of money, such as a lottery prize, inheritance, money sitting in some bank account, etc.
Victims never receive this non-existent fortune but are tricked into sending their money to the criminals, who remain anonymous. They hide their real identity and location by using fake names and fake postal addresses as well as communicating via anonymous free email accounts and mobile phones.
Keep in mind that scammers DO NOT use their real names when defrauding people.
The criminals either abuse names of real people or companies or invent names or addresses.
Any real people or companies mentioned below have NO CONNECTION to the scammers!
Read more about such scams here or in our 419 FAQ. Use the Scam-O-Matic to verify suspect emails.
Click here to report a problem with this page.
Some comments by the Scam-O-Matic about the following email:
- An email address listed inside this email has been used in a known fraud before.
- This email uses a separate reply address that is different from the sender address. Spammers use this to get replies even when the original spam sending accounts have been shut down. Also, sometimes the sender addresses are legitimate looking but fake and only the reply address is actually an email account controlled by the scammers.
- The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "dear friend" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- This email message is a next of kin scam.
- This email lists free webmail addresses. Use of such addresses is typical for scams. Lotteries, banks and any but the smallest of companies do not normally use such addresses. Criminals use them to anonymously send and receive email at Internet cafes.
- jmsharry44@gmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: James Harry Esq <abubakarwazirihauwa@gmail.com>
Reply-To: jmsharry44@gmail.com
Date: Fri, 13 Jan 2023 12:42:14 +0100
Subject: CONFIDENTIAL
--
Dear Friend,
I have contacted you in good faith. My name is James Harry, I am a
Solicitor based in London. I am contacting you because you share the same
last name with a deceased client of mine who died a few years ago. He left
behind huge bank deposits with no will or testament. The bank has requested
that I present any of his relatives to claim his money otherwise it will be
declared as unclaimed and confiscated.
It is my plan therefore to present you to the bank as a family relation to
my late client so that his deposit can be transferred to you legally by
evidence of the fact that you both share the same last name. I will be able
to make this presentation possible and will guide you all the way until his
funds are released to you. We shall be sharing the proceeds of this claim
equally if you accept to work with me. I will share more details with you
upon your positive response to my email on jmsharry44@gmail.com
Please kindly treat my email as confidential and if my message offends your
moral values then you may delete my email and forget I ever contacted you.
Best Wishes,
James Harry Esq.
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Anti-fraud resources:
